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Dauphine Libere Stage 4 Time Trial Profile

- Wednesday's Dauphine Libere Stage 4 Individual Time Trial (42.4km) from Bourg-les-Valence to Valence is scheduled to get underway at 13:25 CET (7:25am U.S. Eastern) when the first rider departs. Riders will depart at one-minute intervals with the final 20 riders departing at two-minute intervals. (Full TT Start Order and Times to come.) Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 15:45 CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern). Dauphine Libere live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 16:00 CET (10am U.S. Eastern). We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- Dauphine LIVE on Cycling TV. Link at right.

- Dauphine Libere LIVE on Eurosport.

Dauphine Libere Stage 3 Profile

- Dauphine Libere Stage 3 departs Tournus at 12:30 CET (6:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected in Saint-Etienne between 16:54 and 17:29 CET (10:54am and 11:29am U.S. Eastern). Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 15:45 CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern). Dauphine Libere live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 16:00 CET (10am U.S. Eastern). We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- We recommend you open our Twitter feed in a separate window now. If ever we have a server outage, we will update on Twitter and direct you to a live coverage page on another server.

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- Tuesday's Dauphine Libere Stage 3 departs Tournus at 12:30 CET (6:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected in Saint-Etienne between 16:54 and 17:29 CET (10:54am and 11:29am U.S. Eastern). Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 15:45 CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern). Dauphine Libere live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 16:00 CET (10am U.S. Eastern). We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- Dauphine Libere LIVE now on Eurosport.

- France 3 is geo-restricted. Note that even in France, there is no national TV coverage of the Dauphine Libere until the weekend; coverage during the week is on regional TV and that rotates throughout the week. (So for example, people in some French regions won't have the Ventoux stage on TV; those with computers will have to rely on internet streaming.) Next up: Eurosport at 15:15 CET 9:15am U.S. Eastern), though they are giving priority to ATP tennis on the main Eurosport channel. Stay tuned.

- Dauphine Libere LIVE now on Cycling TV. Link at right.

Dauphine Libere Stage 2 Profile

- Dauphine Libere Stage 2 departs Nancy at 10:15 CET (4:15am U.S. Eastern) and is expected in Dijon between 15:46 and 16:25 CET (9:46am and 10:25am U.S. Eastern). Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 14:50 CET (8:50am U.S. Eastern). Dauphine Libere live streaming on France 3 is also scheduled to begin at that time. We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- We recommend you open our Twitter feed in a separate window now. If ever we have a server outage, we will update on Twitter and direct you to a live coverage page on another server.

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- Monday's Dauphine Libere Stage 2 departs Nancy at 10:15 CET (4:15am U.S. Eastern) and is expected in Dijon between 15:46 and 16:25 CET (9:46am and 10:25am U.S. Eastern). Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 14:50 CET (8:50am U.S. Eastern). Dauphine Libere live streaming on France 3 is also scheduled to begin at that time. We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- Dauphine Libere LIVE video streaming now via Eurosport.

- Dauphine Libere LIVE now on Cycling TV. Link at right. (Subscription)

- Dauphine Libere live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to get underway at 18:00 CET (12pm U.S. Eastern). We monitor possible sources of live streaming throughout the stage each day of the race.

- Dauphine Libere video clips: We will be maintaining a list of Dauphine video clips here. We've already listed some great historical footage of the race below, including one from 1983 where Greg LeMond gets a stage win and takes over the race lead:

- Roland Garros (French Open): On the Friday before the Women's (Saturday) and Men's (Sunday) Finals of the 1999 Roland Garros tournament, I shot Andre Agassi's and Steffi Graf's practice sessions, on the same satellite court at different times of the day. Graf went on to win her finals match in a stunner over Martina Hingis; it was Graf's first Grand Slam victory in 3 years. The next day, Agassi came back from a 2 set to love deficit to stun Andrei Medvedev in five sets; it was Agassi's first Grand Slam victory in four years. The two champions danced at the winners' ball, then began dating before marrying in 2001. 1999 was a big summer for Americans in Paris as the month following Agassi's historic victory, Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France. The 2009 Roland Garros Men's Final is today: Roger Federer vs. Robin Soderling... -Pete

- Dauphiné LibéréStage 1 Individual Time Trial in Nancy starts at 16:09 CET (10:09am U.S. Eastern) when the first rider departs. Riders will depart at 1-minute intervals. Dauphiné Libéré live video streaming on Cycling TV is scheduled to begin at 17:30 CET (11:30am U.S. Eastern). Dauphiné live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 18:00 CET (12pm U.S. Eastern). We will list other sources of Dauphine live feeds as they become available.

- We recommend you open our Twitter feed in a separate window now. If ever we have a server outage, we will update on Twitter and direct you to a live coverage page on another server.

- The 2009 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré starts tomorrow, Sunday, and runs to June 14. The race will be broadcast live on Cycling TV worldwide except Europe. Eurosport and France 3 TV are also among the television channels showing the Dauphine Libere live. Stage 1 Sunday is a 12.1km individual time trial in the city of Nancy. We'll post our full Dauphine Libere Live Coverage Guide in the morning listing options for live video, live audio and tickers and graphics. Some links and start times posted below.

- Breaking news:Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel says that the sponsor financial problems have not been solved and that the team will continue to protest with sponsor names faded on jerseys. More here.

- Tour de Luxembourg: As in years past, there is a daily highlights program scheduled on TV at 19:50 CET (1:50pm U.S. Eastern). So a video feed may be playing here. Note that this feed quickly becomes overwhelmed. More links below.

- More Tour de Cycling - Friday to come...

- Tour de Luxembourg Stage 2 is underway. Links below, including live ticker. No live video for this race.

- Lance Armstrong and Anna Hansen are the proud parents of a baby boy, Max. More here.

- Today's French sports daily L'Equipe is reporting that the Astana team has pre-selected Andreas Kloden for the Tour de France. An investigation into doping practices on the T-Mobile team in 2006 has not implicated Kloden according to Astana team spokeman Philippe Maertens.

New book: Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide

- Graham Watson's Tour de France Travel Guide: The Complete Insider's Guide to the Tour! is now available for purchase. Watson has followed and photographed the Tour for 31 years. In this book, he shares his tips on where to eat and sleep and where to watch and photograph the race yourself. The book is richly illustrated with Watson's photographs, maps and more.

- You know the Tour de France is right around the corner when Pierre Ballester and David Walsh publish another book about Lance Armstrong. Obviously they didn't take the advice of esteemed International Herald Tribune reporter Sam Abt who suggested a couple of years ago it was perhaps time for them to "move on". Of course, Walsh and Ballester's favorite subject was in retirement then. He's back now and so are they. Fair enough, except that early indications are that the book, "Le Sale Tour" (or The Dirty Tour), published today, is filled with wild speculation about Armstrong's reasons for returning to the sport, including future political ambitions, to make money, etc. (Chicago Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan made more than $30 million in salary per year each of the last few years of his career, not including endorsements. Armstrong is not taking a salary for riding for Astana but naturally is able to command high appearance fees.) Ballester and Walsh also assert "(Tour de France organizer) ASO's new strategy is more turned towards business than the credibility of the sport". Huh? That has always been ASO's "strategy" and always will be for as long as they own the race.

Three years ago I asked Ballester, who once covered cycling, including Greg LeMond's comeback 20 years ago, for French sports daily L'Equipe, if he was a cycling fan. He said no, his sport is rugby. Funny, a former French rugby player last year stated that dope testing is virtually non-existent in the sport. No wonder Ballester (and Walsh for that matter) likes rugby. It is "clean" because no one is out to bust it. Meanwhile, for over 10 years pro cycling, an easy target, is repeatedly targeted at every opportunity.

Will it ever end? Not as long as there is money to be made tearing down the sport.

-Pete

- We mentioned yesterday that Astana was cleared to ride the Dauphine Libere (June 7-14). That information is confirmed in today's edition of the French sports daily L'Equipe.

- Tour of Luxembourg info and links below.

June, 2009 issue of Velo Magazine (French): Le Guide du Tour. Velo Magazine appears to be the first 2009 Tour de France guide out of the gate; many more to come.

When it comes to race organizers, the names Jean-Marie Leblanc (former director of the Tour de France), Christian Prudhomme (current TDF director), Angelo Zomegnan (Giro d'Italia), Victor Cordero (Vuelta a Espana) and Thierry Cazeneuve (Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré) come to mind. In Luxembourg, no one is more involved in the organization and other aspects of bike racing than Ed Buchette (photo above). Buchette's résumé is impressive: in addition to his involvement with the Tour of Luxembourg and related races (including the Grand Prix General Patton) as General Secretary of the Association des Organisateurs du Tour de Luxembourg, he is Vice-president, along with Zomegnan, of the Association des Organisateurs des Courses Cyclistes (AIOCC) (Prudhomme is president), member (since 2000) of the UCI Road Commission, General Secretary of the Luxembourg cycling federation, and an international commissaire for the UCI. Buchette is also a government forester since 1979 and since 1998 has been in charge of forests for the city of Luxembourg.

Buchette also appears to be the only organizer mentioned above who is on Twitter. -Pete

Today is the Tour de Luxembourg Stage 1 from Luxembourg to Mondorf. The stage is scheduled to begin at 13:00 CET (7am U.S. Eastern) and finish between 16:35 and 17:18 CET (10:35am and 11:18am U.S. Eastern).

- Astana cleared to continue racing: As we noted on Twitter an hour ago, the UCI has for now cleared Astana to continue racing. They are racing the Tour de Luxembourg, now underway, and look set to race the Dauphine Libere which starts Sunday. Beyond that, things are not clear at this point. More on this story here. (AP)

- Tour de Luxembourg: As in years past, there is a daily highlights program scheduled on TV at 19:50 CET (1:50pm U.S. Eastern). So a video feed may be playing here. Note that this feed quickly becomes overwhelmed. We do not know what if any coverage there will be for today's prologue since the race is taking place during the scheduled highlights show.

- The Skoda Tour de Luxembourg starts today and runs through June 7. We do not believe there to be any live television coverage but highlights may be available. More info to come on that.

The Tour of Luxembourg is the national Tour of the Schleck brothers, Frank and Andy. They will be joined on the start line by riders including Stuart O'Grady, Maxim Iglinskiy, Andreas Kloden, Ruben Perez, Danilo Napolitano, Romain Feillu, Robert Hunter, Koen de Kort, and Baden Cooke.

Today's stage is a short 2.7km evening prologue in the city of Luxembourg. According to the official website, the first rider will depart at 19:00 CET (1pm U.S. Eastern) and the last rider (Andreas Kloden) will depart at 21:00 CET (3pm U.S. Eastern). The full start order and start timeshere (.pdf)

Alberto Contador in the snow on Tour de France reconnaissanceat the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard. This mountain passwill be featured in Stage 16. But Contador will first race in theDauphine Libere which starts in one week.photo courtesy T. Guillot/Le Dauphiné Libéré (more photos)

- Tour of Belgium: Like the Giro, the Tour of Belgium finishes with an individual time trial today. First rider to depart: Mathieu Criquielion at 13:20 CET (7:20am U.S. Eastern). Race leader Lars Boom departs at 15:33 CET (9:33am U.S. Eastern). Full start order and timeshere. Live video, tickers and other links below.

- Giro d'Italia Stage 21 Individual Time Trial in Rome starts at 13:45 CET (7:45am U.S. Eastern) when the first rider, Evgeny Sokolov (BBox Bouygues Telecom) departs. Race leader Denis Menchov will depart last, scheduled at 17:01 CET (11:01am U.S. Eastern). Riders will depart at 1-minute intervals with the final 15 riders departing at 3-minute intervals. Giro d'Italia live video streaming on Universal Sports is scheduled to begin at 8:50am U.S. Eastern. Giro live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 15:45 CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern). The Rai Sport Piu web streams usually go live before television coverage.

- Tour of Belgium live video streaming is scheduled to begin at 14:10 CET (8:10am U.S. Eastern). Links below.

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- Sunday's Giro d'Italia Stage 21 Individual Time Trial in Rome starts at 13:45 CET (7:45am U.S. Eastern) when the first rider, Evgeny Sokolov (BBox Bouygues Telecom) departs. Race leader Denis Menchov will depart last, scheduled at 17:01 CET (11:01am U.S. Eastern). Riders will depart at 1-minute intervals with the final 15 riders departing at 3-minute intervals. You'll find the complete Giro Rome TT start order and timeshere. (.pdf) Giro d'Italia live video streaming on Universal Sports is scheduled to begin at 8:50am U.S. Eastern. Giro live coverage on Eurosport is scheduled to begin at 15:45 CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern). The Rai Sport Piu web streams usually go live before television coverage.

- Watch the Giro d'Italia Stage 20 On Demand on Universal Sportshere. (Over three hours of coverage. North America.)

- Giro live tickers in multiple languages in our Live tickers section at right.

- Giro d'Italia Stage 20 departs Napoli at 12:25 CET (6:25am U.S. Eastern) and is expected in Anagni between 17:01 and 17:29 CET (11:01am and 11:29am U.S. Eastern). Giro d'Italia live video streaming on Universal Sports is scheduled to begin at 8:30am U.S. Eastern. Giro live coverage on Eurosport 2 is scheduled to begin at 16:30 CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern); coverage might appear on the main Eurosport channel depending on weather conditions at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris as well as competitor match-ups. The Rai Sport Piu web streams usually go live before television coverage.